Aviemore will benefit from a major economic boost next summer after the Highland town was yesterday named as 2019 hosts of the prestigious international Celtic Media Festival.
The annual three-day event, which celebrates its 40th anniversary next June, promotes the languages and cultures of the Celtic nations and regions in media.
Councillor Bill Lobban, Highland Council convener and chairman of the Badenoch and Strathspey Area Committee said: “This is a huge coup to host the Celtic Media Festival in Aviemore.
“It will be a great privilege and honour to mark four decades of this internationally significant festival in our area.
He added: “While the Celtic Media Festival has previously been hosted in the Highlands in Inverness in 1987, 1991 and 2015, Skye in 1999, and in Fort William in 1995 and in 2007, I am certain that we will make the festival organisers and delegates all very welcome in Aviemore and make it a fantastic year to remember.
“The economic impact of conferences and festivals in our area is highly significant and Aviemore is supremely well provided both in its beautiful setting, hospitality and transport infrastructure and in the warmth of welcome that we offer.”
Members of the area committee were told of the successful bid to host the event yesterday.
The festival is supported by broadcast, film, cultural and economic development organisations throughout the Celtic countries.
The event is a celebration of broadcasting, film talent and excellence from Scotland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany.
It combines a major conference of seminars and master classes with the presentation of coveted prizes in an international competition across all the main content genres in TV, radio, film and digital media.
For 40 years, the festival has been bringing together those who cherish the languages and cultures of the Celtic countries as portrayed on screen and broadcast.
Organisers say it is a unique festival that has grown and flourished “on a scale that attracts the best conference speakers and that can showcase emerging talent”.
